Television

MTV documents sperm donor, half-sibling contacts in "Generation Cryo"

"Generation Cryo" traces the search for a donor by Breeanna, 17, right, the single child of a lesbian couple. In the course of her search, Bree locates at least 15 half-siblings fathered by the same anonymous donor, No. 1096. (Provided by MTV)

It all started with a curious kid in Nederland.

Ryan Kramer was a child prodigy who started at the University of Colorado four years early, graduated from the aerospace engineering program and is now a rocket scientist in Louisville. The one question he couldn't answer as a kid was a primal one: Who is my father?

As a Denver Post story explained, his mother, Wendy Kramer, had used a sperm bank to conceive her son and had only an anonymous donor number to share.

"We started a little Yahoo group ... all these people wanted to make mutual-consent contact," Kramer said. Ryan's quest — which so far has turned up six half-siblings as well as the donor — evolved into the Donor Sibling Registry. Since 2000, the Registry has successfully connected 10,506 half-sibs and/or donors.

The evolution in how a new generation looks at conception, parenthood, family and, not least, privacy now takes another step: "Generation Cryo" is a six-part MTV docu-reality series premiering Nov. 25 that lays out the issues in an easy yet respectful format.

Advertisement

"Generation Cryo" traces the search for a donor by one 17-year-old, Breeanna, the single child of a lesbian couple. In the course of her search, Bree locates "at least" 15 half-siblings fathered by the same anonymous donor, No. 1096.

This is the nonfiction world dramatized in Vince Vaughn's movie, "Delivery Man," which opened last this week. In that comedy, the donor learns he's fathered 533 children through anonymous donations to a fertility clinic years earlier. The MTV docu-series is as earnest as that movie is outrageous.

As Bree travels to meet her newfound blood relatives, keeping a video diary of her impressions, the camera catches the half-siblings comparing physical similarities and shared interests, worrying about their parents' feelings, wondering what unwanted surprises are in store, all while looking for "No. 1096." Some of the half-sibs aren't comfortable with the idea of meeting the man who isn't a "father" in the conventional sense, but whose DNA they share. (Certain personal information on the Registry is redacted for the camera.)

The topic is loaded. Even the terminology is loaded ("donor" or "biological father"?). Onscreen, the "non-bio parent" admits to feeling threatened by the idea of his family finding the donor. The process can be emotional for all concerned. But for a growing population, it's a fact of life.

Kramer, who founded the Donor Sibling Registry and served as associate producer on the series, said her mission is "taking the stigma out of donor conception." At the same time, she also argues in favor of stricter restrictions on the profit-motivated sperm and egg donation system.

The MTV audience is a logical place to start.

In the first two hours of "Generation Cryo," the exact research methods Bree used to locate her sperm donor are unclear. Kramer expressed disappointment that a segment involving her son Ryan walking Bree through the process via computer was cut from the series.

Missy Franklin, Jenny Simpson, Adeline Gray and three other Colorado women could be big players at the 2016 Rio OlympicsWhen people ask Missy Franklin for her thoughts about the Summer Olympics that will begin a year from Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, she hangs a warning label on her answer.